Last April — long before Charlie Kirk’s untimely and horrific assassination Sept. 10 — I wrote an article about his rise from college dropout to Trump influencer. Since Kirk’s murder, I’ve watched with fascination the battle over his legacy. The…
The making of a martyr
The gunshot that killed Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University Sept. 10 changed everything. The conservative activist’s assassination tornadoed through America’s Christian nationalist movement, which reeled at the loss of one of its greatest warriors in a battle for the soul…
Two AI videos depict Charlie Kirk in heaven as a martyr
Charlie Kirk’s death has sparked a national conversation about his words. As evangelicals hail him as a martyr, others point to the harm he caused through the racist, sexist, homophobic, violence-celebrating remarks he made during his life. Pastor Howard John…
On Charlie Kirk, selective outrage and a church that refuses to tell the truth
When the news broke that Charlie Kirk had been shot and killed, I did what I often try to do. I asked a question. It wasn’t celebratory. It wasn’t cruel. It wasn’t wishing violence on anyone. I simply asked how Christians…
Was Charlie Kirk a martyr?
The idea of making Charlie Kirk a martyr never would have occurred to me because he espoused an ideology I find unacceptable and un-Christian. He didn’t deserve to die, but dying doesn’t make one a Christian martyr. The idea was…
World religious leaders remember Shahbaz Bhatti as martyr 10 years later
World religious leaders, policymakers and human rights activists gathered virtually March 2 to mark the 10-year anniversary of the assassination of Shahbaz Bhatti, the Pakistani Christian politician targeted by the Taliban for championing religious freedom. His killers never were prosecuted….